TV #22 of 2026: Classic Doctor Who, season 25 Few TV shows make it to 25 seasons, and Classic Who didn’t get much further than this, since ratings were falling and the very next year would prove to be its last, subsequent revivals and expanded media notwithstanding. It also doesn’t do a whole lot to …
Author Archives: Joe Kessler
Movie Review: Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
Movie #22 of 2026: Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) Original creator James Cameron left the Terminator franchise after its second installment, which is also when the quality level significantly dropped. Theoretically, then, his triumphant return in this sixth picture — in which he serves as one of two producers and one of five men with ‘story …
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Book Review: Doctor Who: Charles Darwin and the Silurian Survival by L. D. Lapinski
Book #70 of 2026: Doctor Who: Charles Darwin and the Silurian Survival by L. D. Lapinski (Icons #2) This is one of the better Doctor Who historical celebrity stories, and definitely an improvement over the Thirteen / Frida Kahlo adventure that launched this recent novella series. Here instead it’s the Tenth Doctor meeting a young …
Movie Review: The Bear: Gary (2026)
Movie #21 of 2026: The Bear: Gary (2026) FX/Hulu randomly dropped this hour-length flashback episode of The Bear a few days ago with minimal fanfare, over a month in advance of the upcoming final season. That’s an odd choice that I don’t fully understand, and my personal interpretation is that it was probably originally planned …
Book Review: Platform Decay by Martha Wells
Book #69 of 2026: Platform Decay by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries #8) I didn’t care as much for the experimental seventh volume of this series, but I’m happy to report that this next installment finds our misanthropic neurodivergent security cyborg back to its usual exasperated self. The plot is relatively straightforward — rescue and …
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Book Review: Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane by Suzanne Collins
Book #68 of 2026: Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane by Suzanne Collins (The Underland Chronicles #2) Overall a decent middle-grade adventure sequel, although not really as entertaining or imaginative as its predecessor. The first volume established the existence of the ‘Underland’ beneath New York City, and ended with the revelation of a further prophecy …
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TV Review: Daredevil: Born Again, season 2
TV #21 of 2026: Daredevil: Born Again, season 2 The first season of this MCU revival series was a notoriously Frankensteined affair, with its writing staff fired and replaced midway through production but all the footage filmed up until that point incorporated into the next version, which leaned more into the darker tone of the …
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TV Review: Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord, season 1
TV #20 of 2026: Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord, season 1 On balance I think I’ll give this latest animated Star Wars series three-out-of-five stars, with the acknowledgment that it gets substantially better over the course of its ten-episode run. The problem is that early on, the program doesn’t really have a clear premise …
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Book Review: The Elsewhere Express by Samantha Sotto Yambao
Book #67 of 2026: The Elsewhere Express by Samantha Sotto Yambao In the abstract, this magical realist novel seems like it should have been right up my alley. Its premise of a wondrous train built on daydreams that whisks away people feeling hopeless in life isn’t so radically different from stories I’ve enjoyed like The …
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Book Review: Nonesuch by Francis Spufford
Book #66 of 2026: Nonesuch by Francis Spufford I really like the first half of this historical fantasy novel, in which an enterprising young British woman stumbles into some occult secrets in the early days of World War II. Despite the plot shenanigans, it’s a very character-driven piece, and our heroine is an interesting figure …
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The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more 